A young woman has described feeling "smothered" by her "clingy" boyfriend, who she says has escalated to tracking her every movement and demanding verification of her activities. The 21-year-old shared her experience online after a period of separation and reconciliation with her 22-year-old boyfriend, stating the relationship has become overwhelming.
She explained that her boyfriend has become excessively concerned with her whereabouts, a behavior that intensified after they spent a month apart to "focus on ourselves" and subsequently rekindled their relationship. "My boyfriend micromanages everything I do," she stated. "He didn't used to be this clingy but due to a rough year for our relationship, he's now tracking every movement I make - I share my location with him for safety reasons."
The woman expressed a desire for personal space, noting her boyfriend's difficulty in accepting her need for independence. "He can't accept me wanting to breathe and not text my whereabouts to him. I wanted to turn off my phone to just get some reprieve but he didn't let me. I feel smothered," she said. She clarified that she has not been unfaithful, leaving her to question the origin of his obsessive behavior.
In one instance, after informing her boyfriend she was going to a cafe, he requested a picture of her coffee order. "After telling her boyfriend she was going to a cafe, he asked her to send a picture of her drink order, presumably to prove that she was, in fact, at a cafe," the notes detail. Following her response, "Looks yummy," he reacted. When she stated she intended to turn off her phone for journaling, he suggested putting it in "airplane mode."
The woman's account prompted significant online discussion, with many commenters identifying the boyfriend's use of the word "let" as a major red flag. "What do you mean he didn't 'let' you turn your phone off? Turn your phone off if you want to. As soon as you start saying 'let' in a relationship, it's over. The concept of controlling another free-willed human being is absolutely insane to me," one user commented.
Numerous individuals urged the woman to end the relationship, with some warning that the situation could escalate. "I've been there, done that - it's only going to get a lot worse. I hope she runs the other way. It was a big red flag! Hate to say it, it might already be unsafe to leave the way you could openly and casually in a normal relationship," one commenter shared. Another described the situation as a "Full-time surveillance job with a boyfriend attached."